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Alright alright alright. Here’s that anticipated post about the Peace Corps! People requested me to talk about my journey throughout the Peace Corps application process, so here it is! Many of my friends have only seen pictures, so here’s the real story. I hope you enjoy it all!

Since my sophomore year of college, the Peace Corps was always a thought, an idea. But I really never pursued it then and just put in the back of my head. The application process was tedious and exhausting, so why even try if a limited amount of people get accepted, right? So, sophomore year went by, and so did junior year.

But senior year. Wow. It’s time to start thinking about what I want to do in life. Graduate school? Take a leap year, or two and work? PEACE CORPS. What perfect timing it was because the Peace Corps recruiter for the west side of Michigan was the Hope’s “Gap Year Fair.” Naturally, I went to learn more and bombard my recruiter with questions. I wanted to make sure she knew that I am REALLY interested in it. But people ask, why Peace Corps? What would you do? Seeing as I’m a nursing major, all I want to do is care for those who may not have means to care for themselves. And I can do that though the Peace Corps while learning about new cultures.

Anyway, after that Gap Year Fair, I went back to my dorm and filled that application out. Here’s the great news about it, the Peace Corps made the application simpler and quicker, so it would take under 1 hour! But because it was me who was filling out the application, I took my sweet time to make sure everything was perfect. After 2.5 hours of reviewing and making sure everything was perfect, I hit that submit button.

Then I waited.

And waited.

AND WAITED.

Until I received an email that would determine my journey with the Peace Corps. The wait is finally over! I took the next step forward and was being considered for a placement in Cameroon!

At this point, I didn’t know what position I was being reviewed for, but all that matters is that I am being considered. I AM BEING CONSIDERED! Finally, I have a destination, and it’s to CAMEROON! This is exciting because they speak French, and I speak French. They have a rich culture, and just the thought of being a part of that makes me want to pack my bags and fly there! I’m glad I made it to this point, but there are still many steps ahead. As great as this news was, I had to do more as part of the application process. Then once this was complete, they would review that to choose candidates to interview. A very intimidating sentence in that email states, “Please note that only competitive candidates will be interviewed.” Yeah, that made me uneasy, but let the waiting begin.

The email that started an amazing journey!

So I waited.

And waited.

AND WAITED.

Another email came only a few days later saying I was chosen to be interviewed. I had heart palpitations, I wanted to vomit, I screamed. Why? BECAUSE THIS IS A BIG DEAL! I am a competitive applicant, that gives me so much ease! Now, I’m onto the next stepping stone in my journey. First, I was being considered, then I was selected to interview. Who wouldn’t be excited!? I scheduled my interview, and that was yesterday! It was 1.5 hours long, but I killed it! Well, at least I think I did. Where am I headed next? This is the biggest step in the journey, it determines if I’m going to serve or not. Weirdly enough, I am very confident and look forward to this email. The latest I will know is March 15, two months from today.

I did it, again!

But don’t worry, folks. I will keep you updated. To my friends and family, I cannot thank you enough for your love and support. I am so happy to have the support going through this long process! Stay tuned for more news about the Peace Corps by following me on Twitter at @HopeMarvin15 and Instagram at @MarvSolberg!